Kit Yeasts

[Stewie78]

would love some help with this one. I hardly ever use the yeast that is supplied with the kits. Am I being a bit over the top and are there kits that actually do contain a premium yeast. eg; I use Munton's Yorkshire Bitter kit to make my version of Kilkenny yet I won't use the yeast provided. I tend to go for an English Ale yeast, or a Munton's gold yeast.My next batch I am going to try Safale. Will I be able to achieve the same taste and consistancy by using the yeast provided?

 

[matti]

Look at the bottom of the can for use by date.
I am aware of kit brewers that brew with the yeast in the can get good results.
There is little insurance though as kit yeast are generally just that.
Check the sponsors website for proper dried yeasts.
matti

 

[Pollux]

coopers kit ale yeast makes awesome pizza dough.

Otherwise useless.

 

[geoffi]

Boil the yeast for five minutes then throw it into the wort as a nutrient.

 

[rclemmett]

would love some help with this one. I hardly ever use the yeast that is supplied with the kits. Am I being a bit over the top and are there kits that actually do contain a premium yeast. eg; I use Munton's Yorkshire Bitter kit to make my version of Kilkenny yet I won't use the yeast provided. I tend to go for an English Ale yeast, or a Munton's gold yeast.My next batch I am going to try Safale. Will I be able to achieve the same taste and consistancy by using the yeast provided?

It really depends on the kit and the quality and amount of yeast supplied. If you are going to try s-04 for your next brew then I would say no, you will not be able to achieve the same taste with the kit yeast.... Unless that kit yeast is s-04. I'm pretty sure morgans brewcellar premium ale yeast, and the coopers brewmaster IPA and Irish stout are s-04.... I am prepared to be corrected on that though.

Be aware that pitching 6-7g of yeast into 23L of wort is underpitching and can result in off-flavours.

 

[Renegade]

All of the Coopers "Brew Master" series yeasts are supposed to be better than most.

Also, Brewcraft kits (AKA Morgans anyway I think?) allegedly also come packed with fermentis yeast (S04?) but in a generic packaging according to my local HB supplier.

 

[eamonnfoley]

coopers kit ale yeast makes awesome pizza dough.

Otherwise useless.

so how different is the coopers kit yeast to the brewery yeast (and why)? I've got one sitting in the fridge. Will probably use if I get a stuck ferment or something.

 

[rclemmett]

so how different is the coopers kit yeast to the brewery yeast (and why)? I've got one sitting in the fridge. Will probably use if I get a stuck ferment or something.

I wouldn't worry foles, that is just Pollux's opinion. I brewed an APA with coopers kit yeast that won first in its class in last years Castle Hill Homebrew comp... It comes comes down to how you use it. If it is out of date and you pitch it into 23L of wort then chances are it will come out shit... That is not the yeasts fault. IMHO.

 

[seemax]

+1
Chances are the kit yeast is old, been stored at room temp and is of insufficient quantity (7g). All these factors will contribute to a less than desired result.

Dry yeast is cheap when reused... a $5 packet should be good for 2-3 brews, if not more. Simply store a cup worth of thick slurry yeast cake in a sanitised container in the fridge. Then for an ale, remove and let it reach room temp (20C) and scoop 125mL into your next brew and away it goes. Best to not resue from dark into light brew though.

I tried 2 coopers kit yeast, a mexican cervaza and pale ale. They turned out a little cidery/fruity at 20C, a little disappointing, but drinkable when served cold.

 

[reviled]

Boil the yeast for five minutes then throw it into the wort as a nutrient.

:icon_vomit: I did this once and the smell was so utterly putrid ill never do it again! Reeked out the kitchen for a couple of days!

Agree with Pollux, makes good pizza dough, otherwise tip it

 

[PostModern]

so how different is the coopers kit yeast to the brewery yeast (and why)? I've got one sitting in the fridge. Will probably use if I get a stuck ferment or something.

Coopers standard kit yeast is (I believe) Mauri 514. It was picked because it is temperature tolerant and will make a drinkable brew right up to about 30C. (Drinkable, not great). The brewery yeast is one of those strains that doesn't like to be dried and rehydrated, and it is pretty fussy with temperature. 22C with Coopers brewery yeast will give you more banana than a banana lolly. I don't know about the International Series or BrewMaster and whatever else they make these days. Haven't used a can opener in brewing for a number of years now.

If you want a more genuine Coopers flavour, make a starter with the sediment from a six pack of Coopers Pale Ale.

 

[Renegade]

Do many craftbrewing pubs give away/sell their yeasts? I was thinking of asking at Macquarie Hotel, maybe also the pub out on Parramatta Road near Flemington Markets. No idea whether this would be a good way to get good yeast, but it would be great using a yeast thats deemed as great by a head brewer !

back onto coopers yeast. i used one with a wheat beer which came out very good but the next time I used a fermentis wheat yeast and it tasted WAY better. So there's something to that I suppose. These days, for five bucks its not worth risking it with a kit yeast.. Unless you know exactly what it is - like i said before brewcraft are supposed to use fermentis so it would be dumb to buy the same yeast when you already get it for free.

 

[Bribie G]

There have been discussions about this on various threads lately. I've just done an Aussie Old with two packets of Mauri 514, rehydrated and pitched and they have done a good clean job, bottling on Saturday so I'll get a good idea of how the final beer should taste. Smelt fine during fermentation and I kept the temperature bang on 19. Also I have used the other Mauri yeast, their lager 497, in a Aussie Standard Lager. It also fermented nicely at 19 although a lager yeast. I've done an identical brew using W-34/70 "Weihenstephan" dried yeast fermented at 12, lagered for a month etc. The two are in cold conditioning next to each other at the moment and will be bottled on Monday, with a blind taste off at the BABBs meeting in June.

The point I am examining here is ... do kit yeasts have a bad rap because they are supplied with kits that end up tasting like swill? Is this the result of the yeast or (arguably) does the swill taste come from the combination of isohop, and fermenting at 26 degrees with a bag of Woolies sugar chucked in?

The Mauri lager yeast 497 is used in the higher end lager ranges of Morgans(for sure) and Coopers(I think) as opposed to the bottom end range that comes with the pack labeled 'brewing yeast' which I suppose is the 514. The Mauri site states that some new varieties are coming shortly. Sounds interesting.

http://www.maurivinyeast.com/yeast.aspx?id...&menuid=286

 

[reviled]

like i said before brewcraft are supposed to use fermentis so it would be dumb to buy the same yeast when you already get it for free.

Brewcraft uses Muntons yeast

 

[PostModern]

The point I am examining here is ... do kit yeasts have a bad rap because they are supplied with kits that end up tasting like swill? Is this the result of the yeast or (arguably) does the swill taste come from the combination of isohop, and fermenting at 26 degrees with a bag of Woolies sugar chucked in?

I think you could be right, tho I've never pitched 6g of dried yeast into an AG wort. My comment "drinkable, not great" was in reference to fermenting @ 30. I found 514 to make a dusty, earthy sort of ale. Like the 'hint' of dust in Nottingham, times 10.

However, the 6g pack size is just too small, imho. I usually pitch 20g of dried yeast into a standard batch, so 2x US-05. I might tend towards over-pitching, but that is way preferable to underpitching.

 

[muckey]

However, the 6g pack size is just too small, imho. I usually pitch 20g of dried yeast into a standard batch, so 2x US-05. I might tend towards over-pitching, but that is way preferable to underpitching.

wouldn't underpitching drive yeast character?

I realise that massively underpitching is a bad thing but I understand that underpitching slightly to stress the yeast can drive extra yeast character into the beer.

 

[Pennywise]

Just having a read on the 514 and they say that 25-50g per 100 litres is the pitching rate. So I suppose according to that pitching 6g into 23 litres is 0.25g more than the minimum they suggest. Therefore not really underpitching? I guess I would depend alot on the actuall wort though?

 

[Nick JD]

I find no problems with underpitching. I regularly pitch half a packet of Fermentis yeast and keep the rest sealed in the fridge. I make up 500ml of 20 degree water with a few spoons of dextrose and let it start feasting for an hour - but I don't think it's doing much cellular division then.

I do aerate my wort though. It's always bubbling happily within 12 hours.

Doesn't the yeast spend the first few hours dividing until the population is balanced with the food source - regardless of how much you pitch?

 

[muckey]

I find no problems with underpitching.

agreed
I have underpitched slightly in the past to deliberately stress the yeast to drive esters - mind you it's not desireable with all yeasts - generic kit yeasts especially but the fermentis yeasts should perform quite well I would expect.

I guess I'm just trying to verify my point of view and make sure I'm niot just tricking myself into beleiving something that isnt really there

if you make a starter as you've said I'm not surprised that you hacve success with all those healthy, happy active yeasties getting tipped in the wort.

 

[Sammus]

MrMalty calculator says you only need 10g of dried yeast for 20L or 1.050 wort. I think it's ridiculous to pitch 23g of yeast (2 saf packs) into a standard wort, one is more than enough, since most 'standard' wort is 1.045-1.048.

7g isn't that much of an underpitch imo, as long as the yeast is in decent shape.